Choice : Wait in line for hours on end in hopes for a chance to vote for the nations demise or go on a hike and experience freedom with people that love adventure and good times?
We chose the good times with God and new friends. No set plans other than the rough idea of heading towards Waipio Valley to hike and explore. Starting with a nice hot breakfast of eggs and coffee was an excellent way to begin the morning. Annika and I’s ride arrived around 6:40 A.M. so we car pooled from her house to the Zip line near about 15 minutes north of Hilo, where we met up with some more folks to parade down the valley with. Most of these strapping young characters worked at the zip line or were friends outside.
Laughs and shared stories entered the air as we became familiar with each other, then the time came for us to surge into the vehicles and get on the road. I rode with two gentlemen and one of the girls. Annika rode with Falicity and another guy with his dog Slayter. The drive was mellow, a soundtrack of local reggae jams and the smell of fresh ocean air rising up over the cliffside.
My mind was clear and instead of filling the atmosphere with conversation I went internal, thinking of the things that I would like to improve on in my life, heart and mind thoughts. For sometime my breath has been constantly a struggle to get ahold of, It’s highly possible that I still deal with minor dresses of anxiety. Noticing that my breathing is often rushed, causing my thoughts to rush and a tension to pace back and forth throughout my veins. Having once dealt with this on an extensive level I knew and understood how to counter attack this, it’s only once you realize the problem that you can begin to repair it. Slowing each breath to a drawn out process allows for the mind to slow, piercing the lack of focus and bringing me to a direct intention of thought. 4 Seconds inhale, 4 seconds hold, 4 seconds exhale, 4 seconds hold… Repeat. No thought, but the slow repetition of upward counting to the number 4.
If this life is meant to live and give it all, give all in everything you have to give.
A misty fog and light rain greets us from the look out. We all are on the fence about committing to this hike down, but we have high hopes that the sun will come out and clear away the darkness. Our descent down is quite intense, the road slippery and nearly 40* in grade. The view is incredible, the stillness of rain trickling down off of overhanging plants and down the rugged cracked asphalt creates a metamorphic state. From the busyness of town, slowly transitioning into an ever close canopy of vivid green tress and slow passing rivers. The group passes through slippery mud and hop over and around deep puddles like children that make believe in their backyards of real adventures just as this. We are experiencing freedom, freedom from worry and fear, freedom from time, freedom from a body of busy contractions built into society.
The campsite is setup, part of the group took a four wheel drive Toyota pickup down in order ease they’re bodies from the unimaginable hiking. They are barbecuing sausage, bacon, potatoes, burritos and talking stories. The ocean roars with pumping waves nearly 10-15 feet high. Like living next to an airport where the consistent uproar of engines pulsates throughout town, the rushing waves move in explosive crashes yet carries the followthrough with grace and immense calming fractures towards the shore and upriver, where fresh and salt water mix and coexist.
I shoot video and photos of all the fascinating scenery taking place around us. Black sand sinks over my toes with each passing step and slow breath of the salt filled air. I take about fifteen minutes to sit and recognize my creator, that even amidst some of the wildest rocks, waterfalls, ocean waves and roaring soundscapes all is minute, microscopic in comparison of which could lock down life as well as pluck it all away.
“Be still and know (recognize, understand) that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth.”
Psalm 46:10 Amplified Bible (AMP)
Soon, my eyes pan from one end of the shore to the other, the misty waters rise and fall against the cascading cliffside. I am in awe of the greens, browns, blues and vibrant red and oranges that are painted upon the trunks of wildly developed trees.
One part of the beach is separated by the large river that intertwines into the ocean front. The tide washes in and out with dramatic effects. Raising and lowering by major amounts of water. I watch the timing of the seas melodies with the idea of crossing over to the other side. The smells from the barbecue float on a winds edge bringing me back over to camp for some delicious spicy Italian sausage and burritos.
Annika is beginning to get restless in the sitting and watching, she asks for more adventure. Rounding up the crew we walk to the rivers edge, the black sand falls sheerly into the rocks below. White water salt foam swirls round and round creating intricate patterns overwhelming by site. Tide pulls out draining the entry point of the river leaving the river to stand steady around 15″ high. We all wade across to the other side with smiles in the presence of such a vast valley.
One of our first discoveries was a couch made of rocks stacked onto each other,
then an array of wild trees to walk and climb on.
A time comes to where I leave the group to walk alone in the wilderness, to find time to be with God in the quiet solitary divine.
My heart was overwhelmed with a calm peace that I had been praying about for sometime. From the moment I woke up to the very moment when I sat alone by the riverside and viewed the dancing reflections, picturing where I had come from to where I am exactly. Amidst all of the bumps in the road and the moves that had been made still standing united in the truth and with the people that matter most. Nothing seemed to bother me, though there were a few thoughts that were negatively effecting my perspective they were quickly taken captive and released unto the savior. There’s nothing greater than the peace that comes with a mind of gratitude and hope in the Lord.
Time passed with a subtle unawareness or care for numbers and clocks. One of the members of the crew had just received a certification for climbing trees and brought along his climbing gear. He strings up an awesome rope swing and we all take turns enjoying learning how to move up and down the rope. We are all weightless.
Even though we were not paying attention to time, there was an obvious awareness of surrounding and the sun begins to drop closer to the horizon. The camp is packed up and we hike the incredibly steep road back up towards the lookout point. It took us about 45 minutes to get to the top, drenched in sweat having finished all of our water and skittles.
I lay in the grass to cool down and watch the oceans repeating rolling waters against the monolithic cliffs.
Our journey is finalized with a great feast of local pizza and a cool drive through the night.
